Oak

I was just reading the article about the melaleuca and Australian pine problems. Well, I will add another tree that needs to be removed as well: the live oak tree. Beautiful tree for sure, but one that causes many problems for allergy sufferers. Just ask Savannah, Ga.; they have the highest pollen count in the continental U.S. Those oak trees release so many allergens it is unbelieveable that the city of Plantation decided to plant lots of them on University Drive. Thank goodness they also planted palm trees.

CC Devco has no complaints at Osprey Oaks. The builder has sold 102 of 171 homes there since last February, principal Jim Carr said. The development is at the southeast corner of Hypoluxo and Jog roads. Prices are in the $300,000s and $400,000s. With demand for new homes on the rise, Carr anticipates that Osprey Oaks will sell out this year. "Obviously, we are exceeding expectations," Carr said. "We're very happy with that. " CC Devco built Monterra in Cooper City and has projects in Miramar and Davie.

U.S. Rep. E. Clay Shaw was hopping mad when he phoned the Fort Lauderdale city manager two weeks ago to report something he'd seen along West Broward Boulevard. What made him so angry was four oak trees in a city right of way that had been stripped of all foliage and cut back in violation of the city's tree ordinance. "I couldn't believe my eyes," he said. "They were destroyed." Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale, estimates the mutilation at 2580 W. Broward Blvd. required the better part of a day to complete.

Horsepower, in the form of Rose to Gold, has led owner Alex Centofanti and trainer Sal Santoro to a place most horsemen dream about. The 3-year-old will be one of 11 to go to post in Friday's $1 million Grade I Kentucky Oaks, the Kentucky Derby for fillies. If it were not for another form of horsepower, the unlikely union between the owner from Venezuela and trainer from New York would have never come to pass. Their story is one of a handful of South Florida storylines emanating from Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week.

The only thing small about Live Oak Suwanee football is the community where home games are played. Otherwise, the Bulldogs from northern Florida have hit the big time. Live Oak (6-6 after forfeiting three wins) meets Cardinal Gibbons (11-1) for the Class 3A state title Friday night at 7:30 in Daytona Beach, and a win would make the Bulldogs something no one else in Florida history has been -- winners of four straight state football titles. "We`ve had a great run of athletes in the last four or five years," Live Oak coach Mike Pittman said.

Delray Beach The Delray Oaks Natural Area is officially open to the public. The 25-acre preserve, bought under a county environmental lands program, is in Delray Beach on the west side of Congress Avenue, a mile south of Linton Boulevard. A 1,500-foot paved nature trail and a quarter mile hiking path wind through the hammock. The parking lot can accommodate 10 cars, two buses and bicycles. The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management describes the site as "one of the best remaining examples of tropical hardwood forest in southern Palm Beach County."

Discounted live oak trees for Boca Raton residents will go on sale on Wednesday, according to the city's Beautification Committee. The committee hopes to sell at least 200 trees for $50 each, discounted from their market price of $130, officials said. Each tree will be between 8- and 10-feet tall and will be delivered in January to coincide with Florida's Arbor Day on Jan. 19. Nu Turf of Pompano Beach will plant the trees for an additional $25 to accommodate elderly or disabled residents.

Residents living near an oak-filled hammock vowed on Thursday to try and discourage the Broward County Commission from allowing a developer to turn the forest into what they call a concrete-filled condo canyon of 150 apartments. At Thursday`s Broward Planning Council meeting, several residents pleaded with county workers to oppose developer Joan Bryant`s request to build apartment units on 9.4 acres covered by towering oak trees. Bryant could not be reached for comment, but her attorney, Emerson Allsworth, said she would not want to endanger the hammock.

You can receive 10 free live oak trees just for joining the National Arbor Day Foundation this month. As part of the foundation`s Trees for America campaign, the group is mailing 10 trees, half a foot to a foot long, to everyone who pays the $10 fee to join the foundation. The trees, which are guaranteed to grow and will be replaced if they don`t, will be mailed between late November and mid-December, program services director Mary Yager said. Different trees will be sent to more severe climates.

HOLLYWOOD -- It was a classic case of man vs. nature -- and nature put up quite a struggle. In fact, it put up a day-long fight. Efforts to move a 125-year-old live oak tree -- one of the oldest trees in Hollywood -- nearly stumped a team of tree experts on Friday. The city`s urban forester, a nurseryman, a crane operator and landscapers moved the stately tree from an empty lot because the property owner, Jeff Beitler, wanted to build a house there. In July, Beitler obtained city permission to cut down the tree so he could build on his Lakes of Emerald Hills property.

Pressured by residents opposed to Oakland Park's plans to cut down a stately oak to make room for a parking lot, commissioners jumped at a staff offer to redesign the lot and spare the tree. Commissioners riled many in March when they approved plans for the parking lot on city-owned land just west of a proposed culinary school site at 1299 E. Oakland Park Blvd. In order to build that $661,000 lot, designers would have preserved 10 trees on the site, relocated 13 others and removed 21 of them, including taking down a 40-foot live oak. City staff now thinks a functional lot can be designed that preserves the live oak. Among the other trees that would be saved are two laurel oaks and one of the site's two towering slash pines.

Dreaming of Julia showed the form that made her one of the top juvenile fillies in 2012, destroying a small but quality field in the $300,000 Grade II Gulfstream Oaks Saturday at Gulfstream Park and punctuating a big afternoon for trainer Todd Pletcher and a bigger one for jockey John Velazquez. The daughter of A. P. Indy easily shook pacesetter Live Lively in the third turn and swiftly left her five challengers in the rear. She would win by an eye-popping 21 3/4 lengths, covering the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.97.

Fans lured to Gulfstream Park on Saturday by the Florida Derby will also be treated to the longest and most distinguished day of racing of the meet. Along with the track's signature race, the card features 13 live races, with first post at 12:30 p.m. More than half of the day's races are stakes races, six of which are graded. Aside from the 61st running of the Florida Derby, the most important race of the afternoon is the $300,000 Grade II Gulfstream Oaks, the counterpart race to the feature for 3-year-old fillies.

— Residents will tie a yellow ribbon Saturday around an old oak tree that the city plans to tear down to make room for a downtown parking lot. They see the ribbon as a sign of solidarity with the 40-foot live oak and of their opposition to the parking lot, which city officials have said is critical to luring a culinary school to the adjacent building at 1299 E. Oakland Park Blvd. Officials want the school to anchor the city's culinary arts district. "I've got 700 feet [of ribbon]

- The days are numbered for a 40-foot live oak that stands in the way of a downtown city parking lot. The idea of sacrificing the tree rankles commissioners, but it did not stop a majority from approving plans for the lot that would serve a future culinary school - an anchor for the city's developing downtown culinary arts district. "This conjures up the notion of paving paradise to put up a parking lot," said Vice Mayor John Adornato, a self-described tree-hugger whose day job is regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association.

After six years of planning, construction has begun on the Osprey Oaks development in west Boynton Beach , but time hasn't quelled questions about the county's "workforce" housing requirement. The Osprey Oaks community will take up 86 acres on the southeast corner of Jog Road and Hypoluxo Road. The development will consist of 171 single family homes, 13 one-acre lots for custom family homes and 37 multi-family townhome "workforce" rentals. In 2006, Palm Beach County made it a requirement for all new developments in unincorporated parts of the county to include a percentage of workforce housing — which is different than affordable housing.

Children sang songs and read poetry about trees, watched a live oak be planted and got a visit from the mayor. The occasion was the recent Arbor Day celebration at Griffin Elementary School. "It's wonderful that today, instead of celebrating an advance in technology or science, we're remembering and honoring nature," said Mayor Debby Eisinger, adding that the event helps "celebrate the beauty of trees and what they contribute to our environment and quality of life." The live oak was planted at the rear of the school by city horticultural technician Nick Alessandrelli.

Standard Pacific Homes said Monday it has acquired 34 lots in The Oaks at Boca Raton . Kenco Communities sold the homesites for $8.8 million, property records show. The development, which has 469 existing homes, is at the northwest corner of Clint Moore and Lyons roads west of Boca Raton . Standard Pacific said average prices there will top $900,000. It expects to launch sales early next year. The Irvine, Calif.-based builder focuses on the move-up and luxury markets, and The Oaks "fit perfectly with that overarching strategy," said Dan Grosswald, Standard Pacific's South Florida division president.